China and the United States, the two largest economies, have gone through a roller coaster in recent weeks. Peter Navarro, a senior adviser to the Trump administration on China policy, quoted a fake "expert" in his book "Death by China" to support his claims about China's alleged threat to the American economy.

Are we still facing a potential threat of decoupling?

Regarding the Navarro's fabrication scandal, Chen Dongxiao, president of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, believed it will hit and gravely damaged his academic integrity or credibility if he is still an expert working at a think tank, and even seal his career development as a professor. He is quite doubtful about whether this scandal will help change the policymakers' perception of China.

"This is more about a political issue other than an academic debate over whether his argument is correct or groundless. It is them – those hawkish people in the White House, Congress, and the State Department, who believed the 'stories' [from Navarro] are favorable to their ears," said Chen. 

"Donald Trump is the key decision maker. If Trump doesn't like what [Navarro] has done, then his star will diminish. But at this time, I do not see evidence for that," said Michael D. Swaine, a senior fellow of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Swaine thought this scandal reflects Navarro's own perception. 

He added that his fictionalized texts will only drag people to wonder how he thinks about China and its economy, and the international economy. Also, it shows Navarro is playing with the fact in a sort of whimsical way, which someone in his position shouldn't have been.

Reflecting on Navarro's role in White House, Swaine said that although Navarro represents the particular extreme point of view within certain circles both inside and outside the U.S. government, he is not the mainstream policy sector.

In fact, Swaine trust that many people in Washington is concerned about the China-U.S. relationship and they certainly see the differences in between. Thus, there is a need for both sides to have a friendly dialogue about what the differences are. 

Despite Navarro's unfriendly behavior, he considers certain American views on China to be justified concerning Chinese economic behavior and other issues, and that it should all be examined and discussed in a friendly manner.

However, Navarro also plays an important role in the long trade talks with China. According to Swaine, Navarro's advice seems like a "sledgehammer" approach in U.S.'s dealing with China on the trade issues. Moreover, Swaine thinks it's very ridiculous that China's economy is designed to undermine the U.S. and world economy, which Navarro alleges.

But, in real life, he added that countries have differences, and power relationships do not go away. So, we have to deal with that power relationship in a more effective way by recognizing that there are different dimensions to the China-U.S. relationship, which is the most complex and challenging one that the United States never had with another country.

Dialogue With Yang Rui is a prime time daily English talk show on CGTN. The 30-minute talk show covers a wide range of domestic and international topics, providing a balanced and critical perspective on current affairs and analysis within the framework of cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary comparisons. 

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